BISMARCK – The North Dakota State Senate voted Wednesday to change a term commonly used for unknown deaths to an infant.
House Bill 1042 would change the term “sudden infant death syndrome” to “unexplained sudden death in an infant or child with or without extrinsic, intrinsic factors, or both” in the North Dakota Century Code.
“Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS, has become an outdated term, and it is also considered to be too vague a term,” said the carrier of the bill Sen. Kristin Roers, R-Dis. 27, Fargo. “An example of an extrinsic factor could be something like sleeping arrangements, a parent rolling onto the child or getting trapped in the bedding. The intrinsic factor could be something like pre-birth conditions, like substance use.”
Roers clarified that the bill does not change the number of autopsies, but rather allows more specificity on the cause of death.
The bill passed unanimously and will be sent to the governor’s desk for consideration.
